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 |  I travel the country on business, sometimes the world. Come see where I've been. |
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Talk about perks, my job has one of the best ones I can think of! I travel in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I am a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and teach classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2 way radio communications. I'm qualified to deliver approximately 30 different classes, but about half of those are 'Legacy' classes, and are not in demand anymore. My students are technicians, those who maintain, program, calibrate, and repair large 2-way radio systems. Some of these systems are statewide, and use TCP-IP networking to allow sites to communicate with others. Some are small, traditional type radio sites. The size doesn't matter, in each case the systems must be kept operational at all times, since many of them are Public Safety Systems. So I get to travel, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where am I this week? This probably won't have daily entries, but I will make entries when I get to go somewhere, and keep an updated list of coming trips. My schedule changes faster than the weather, so don't be too surprised to see me list an upcoming class, only to remark later on that it is cancelled, or delayed. Delays are fine of course, but a later date might mean that someone else gets to go instead of me,,, Well, here we go with this, let's see where it takes us.  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
| Locale: Beaverton, Oregon Week of: 2/19 While I haven't been consistent in writing posts in this blog recently, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Real life caught up with me, along with work. To put bluntly, I've been swamped a bit. Something I've known for a long time, is that we need more people qualified to deliver some of the courses I specialize in delivering. I don't plan on working a whole lot longer, so someone will have to step up. The problem is, only two other instructors are close being able to deliver them, and both of them are swamped with other responsibilities. All I can say is that it won't be my problem once I retire. That's not a nice thing to say, but it's the truth. I was in Beaverton Oregon last week delivering a class to Washington County. I'll be there again next week too. The class I delivered last week went very well ,I was happy with my delivery, I think the students were too. I was pretty tired all week because I flew home Friday night, then flew to Portland Sunday. That East Coast-West Coast swing can really get to you, as some of you know. Now I'm on the East Coast again, and will be on the West Coast next week, again. Life could be a whole lot worse for me though. I'm delivering this class to FEMA because a co-worker recommended I deliver it, They are looking for specific information on a couple of our products, and I'm the SME (Subject Matter Expert) on these two devices. Like I've said before, it's nice to be needed, but it's not nice when you are going East Coast to West Coast, and repeating it.... OF course I did manage to dine at a couple of nice restaurants while there. Noteworthy Restaurants: Oasis Lebanese Cuisine https://beaverton.oasis-lebanese-cuisine.com/menus/ I love trying foreign dishes, especially Mediterranean dishes, so I chose this place. It was just outstanding! I enjoyed their Feta Cheese Plate, and Veggie Stew. Man, what dishes!! Not too filling either, just good wholesome food. Copper River Restaurant https://www.copperriverrestaurant.com/ I decided to eat a Northwestern dish that night, and enjoyed their Stuffed Salmon. Stuffed Salmon - Northwest salmon filet, crab, shrimp, brie, beurre blanc, wild rice, seasonal vegetables. The only problem I had with this meal was that my veggies (asparagus), and rice were room temperature at best. I mentioned it to my server, and as I suspected, he told no one about it. He seemed to have the attitude of "This is one person, an older man at that, he's not that important to me". Oh well, you can't get excellent service all the time. The meal was very good, it was just spoiled by the veggies being room temp. Right now I am in Frederick Md, having flown here from Portland. It's too tiring/exhausting to try to get home for 12 hours or so, only to fly out again on a Sunday. I've spent half of today resting and napping trying to get ready for the week. I will fly home Saturday to spend about 30 hours with my better half before flying back to Portland Monday. My schedule has changed a little, here's the rest of the 1st Quarter for me Week of: 2/26: Frederick Maryland 3/4: Beaverton, Oregon 3/11: Travel to Bangkok Wednesday/Thursday 3/18: American Embassy, Bangkok 3/25: American Embassy, Bangkok 4/1: Work from home 4/8: Strafford County, New Hampshire Well, that's about it for an update, at least for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington & Schaumburg, Illinois, Dover New Hsampshire Week of: 1/22/24 thru 2/12/24 Wow, it's been a month since my last post? You know as well as I do that many things can change in that time, and they have. I was in Schaumburg the week of 1/22, and came home on Thursday. My other half has been having some intense leg pain caused by a herniated disk in her back. She saw our pain doctor on Friday the 26th, he arranged for her to be admitted the following week. To make a long story short, she had back surgery the following Thursday, and was home Friday. I was (always am really) the doting husband, taking care of her every need, cooking, cleaning, feeding the dogs, whatever was needed. She's recovered beautifully and is doing quite well. So well that I am in New Hampshire this week. I was scheduled to be in Maryland the week of 1/29. because of her surgery, it was moved to the week of 2/26 Dover, New Hampshire is a small town about 15 miles from Portsmouth, home of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. There isn't much to do here, and I've been very tired, which is not unusual anymore. A lot of that was caused by stress over getting the VISA needed to enter Thailand for business. The Sales guy who is also the acting Project Manager for the State Department in Bangkok has been very little help too, which added to my stress. However, a co-worker has been a big help by providing a name of a Motorola who might halp, that really turned things around for me. All's well, it's always been well, but now my stress level is normal! My schedule has changed a little, here's the rest of the 1st Quarter for me Week of: 2/12: Strafford County, New Hampshire 2/19: Beaverton, Oregon 2/26: Frederick Maryland 3/4: Beaverton, Oregon 3/11: Travel to Bangkok Wednesday/Thursday 3/18: American Embassy, Bangkok 3/25: American Embassy, Bangkok 4/1: Work from home 4/8: Strafford County, New Hampshire Well, that's about it for an update, at least for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
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I then went to Taiwan for two weeks; but, although that was nice, it wasn't 'home'. 
